Pot-Roasted Ayam Betutu

Apart from suckling pig, ayam betutu is also one of Balinese signature dishes and I had this scrumptious chicken for the first time this summer in Bali where we really enjoyed drinking Bintang beer and eating local food!

What I like about the dish is actually not a chicken itself but I have instead fallen in love with the marinade which is so flavorful and aromatic! To stop myself from thinking about it all the time, I decided to make it not only to satisfy my own craving but also my husband's who happens to love the dish as well!

There are many recipes of ayam betutu on the net but I chose the one that I felt comfortable with. Luckily, we live in the country that Asian ingredients are easy to be found, so I didn't have any problem to get all ingredients called for in the recipe. The only trouble I've got from making this chicken is that it turned everything into yellow which could make me have a second thought to cook it again..lol  

Anyway, I didn't cook the chicken like the way stated in the recipe because I wanted the chicken skin crispier than the original one I ate. So I decided to cook it in my way using a pot-roast method instead and fortunately, it worked beautifully..

As for a verdict, my husband said it tasted better than the one we had in Bali ( I thought he just tried to make me flattered..lol..) and to prove his word, he nearly finished the whole dish by himself but he's nice enough to let me have some marinade and all bones ! Now I really think that I could stand seeing all of my kitchenwares become yellow again and again... Bon appetit !!

Recipe ( adatep from here )
Ingredients:

1 whole small chicken ( around 1.3 pounds)
Marinade :

8 shallots, peeled and coarsely chopped
4 cloves garlics, peeled and coarsely chopped
2 stalks lemon grass, finely sliced
4-5 kaffir lime leaves
3 cm piece of ginger, peeled and coarsely chopped
1 teaspoon turmeric powder
3 cm piece of galangal, peeled and coarsely chopped
5 bird's eye chilli
1 teaspoon shrimp paste
1 teaspoon ground coriander
2 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon sugar
salt as you desired
 
Method:


1. Wash the chicken then wipe it dry, set aside. Mix all marinade ingredients and blend everything well to form a paste ( not too fine ) in a food processor.

2. Rub the chicken outside with the marinade ,make sure you loosen the skin and rub some marinade under the skin as well, then fill inside of the chicken with the remaining of marinade. Let it stand in the fridge overnight.

3. Take the chicken out and put it into a dutch oven  and leave to cool at the room temperature for one hour before roasting. Preheat the oven to 160 c. and bake with the lid on for one hour. After one hour, take the lid off and continue to bake for another hour ( baste the chicken with the juice from time to time ) until the chicken is nicely brown and the skin becomes crispy , let cool for ten minutes before cutting and serve .